The Search, Part II (episode)
On his homeworld, Odo learns about his people; Sisko discovers that the price of peace with the Dominion may be too high; The founders learn that the only way they are going to take over the Alpha Quadrant is by eventually fighting a war. Summary On the shore of the Great Link sea on the Changeling planet, Odo faces other changelings and Major Kira is on the sideline. A changeling in female form welcomes Odo to his "home" and reinforces that feeling with a partial link. This affects Odo deeply, as he realises that he has truely found his home and his people. In a shuttlecraft, Sisko is dictating a report on the loss or capture of the Defiant and the unknown status of the rest of her crew, except Doctor Bashir, who is in the shuttle with him. It has been six days and it is doubtful that the shuttle can make it to the wormhole. Suddenly the shuttle shudders and Bashir and Sisko try and get the sensors to work so they can find out what is causing the turbulance. They speculate that it may be a tractor beam when they hear something behind them. They both turn and note that the hatch mechanism is starting to rotate, indicating that someone is opening the hatch from the outside. Not knowing who that may be, they both arm their phasers and prepare to defend themselves. The door slowly opens and they are surprised by the appearance of Chief O'Brien, followed quickly by Jadzia Dax. They have been rescued and other ships are looking for the rest of the Defiant's crew. Dax indicates that there is a big surprise waiting for them back at Deep Space 9. Changeling planet: The Arboretum Kira and Odo are waiting in an arboretum. Odo is getting impatient with waiting and Kira is trying to calm him down. When the female changeling returns, A brief discussion ensues about changeling history and why they don't trust solids. She enjoins Major Kira from sending any message that may be trace to the planet. The female changling then begins giving Odo some shape changing lessons. Major Kira goes off to the shuttle to try and get an untracable message through, to Sisko, disguised as elevated background radiation. DS9: Embarcadero Sisko is debarking onto the station and is met by Admiral Alynna Nechayev (Natalia Nogulich) who informs him that the treaty delegation, from the Dominion, have already arrived. They discuss some background information and then the Admiral informs Sisko that one of the Founders would like to see him the moment he arrives. Sisko enters a suite, somewhere on DS9, and meets Borath (Dennis Christopher), a Vorta, who claims that he is one of the Founders. They have a brief discussion about trust and future alliances. Promenade Bashir enters the upper deck of the Promenade and is accosted by Garak (Andrew Robinson). As they exchange pleasantries, they pass a Jem'Hadar Soldier looking down on the main Promenade deck. Garak indicates his misgivings about the treaty while informing Bashir that Central Command is in favor of it. ::'' Enemies make Dangerous friends - Old Cardassian proverb, a la Garak'' As they continue their discussion they encounter Romulan Sub-Commander T'Rul (Martha Hackett) who is very upset and informs them that the Romulans are excluded from the negotiations. Changeling planet: Defiant's shuttlecraft Major Kira configures the shuttle's communications system to transmit her signal and is informed by the craft's computer that it cannot be sent. This is due to excessive external interference from a subsurface power source and analysis is not possible due to a polymetallic substance in the surrounding rock. While Kira is frustrated by this, Odo arrives. He is frustrated by his shape changing lessons and goes off to rest in his bucket, leaving Major Kira alone with her frustration. DS9: Sisko's office Sisko is looking extremely concerned when his staff announces the arrival of Admiral Nechayev . They get into a discussion regarding the Romulan's exclusion from the treaty talks. Admiral Nechayev makes the point that if the Dominion and the Federation create this alliance then the Romulans will be irrelevent. This leaves Sisko deeply troubled. Changeling planet: The Arboretum Sitting in the arboraetum, Odo and the female changeling have a fairly detailed discussion about changeling history, including the fact that solids have been hunting and persecuting changelings for eons, and Odo's place in it. They hug and it morphs into a link mergeing. The brass door Meanwhile Major Kira is facing a large metallic door and scanning it with a tricorder. She notes that this is an anomally since changelings don't normally use doors. She then contacts the shuttle's computer, asks it to scan the door, and is frustrated when the computer tells her that there is too much inteference for it to do so. DS9: Quark's Bashir and O'Brian are in Quark's, having some drinks and discussing the treaty with Quark. The discussion is interrupted by a Jem'Hadar Officer, who picks a fight with O'Brian. It is finally broken up by Eddington but not before O'Brian is injured. Bashir is reminded by Eddington that the Jem'Hadar have carte blanche, at the moment. Sisko has a troubled meal, in his quarters, with his son. He is very distracted and lost in thought when Dax comes in and informs him that she has been transfered, as Science Officer to the USS Lexington. While they are discussing this turn of events, Bashir calls him and requests that they meet, concerning Chief O'Brian. The next thing you see is a very angry Sisko storming into a meeting between Admiral Nechayev and Borath. He demands explanations and the Vorta decides to inform him that: :#The Federation is withdrawing from DS9 and Bajor. :#The entire Bajoran sector is being handed over to the Dominion. :#Control of the Bajoran wormhole will be handed over to the Dominion. The Admiral states that this is the price for peace and Sisko angrily answers that the price of peace is too damned high and that he wants to talk to the Federation's representitive before the treaty is signed. At this point, the Admiral tells him that it has just been signed and that Sisko is too late. Changeling planet: The Arboretum Odo flys in, using the shape of a vulture, lands, and changes back into normal form, as Kira watches in amazement. They begin to talk and Odo gushes about being a vulture. Major Kira asks him for a bit of help with the door that she found. Odo also wonders about the door, since changelings don't use them, and what could be using them if it isn't changelings. DS9: A coffee shop on the Promenade Sisko is drinking a cup of coffee and Garak walks in gushing about how good a job Sisko has been doing for the past two years. In the ensuing conversation, Garak sits at Sisko's table and notes a tone of bitterness in Sisko's voice. He mentions that he shares that bitterness. He further opines that, after a great deal of thought, he can only conclude that their leaders have gone insane, and that "it's a pity" that they are both committed to following the orders of their respective leadership. Sisko agrees with the 'pity' part. At this point, Sisko states his surprise at at how much they seemed to think alike. To which Garak comments that "Life is full of surprises". Suddenly, from down the Promenade, T'Rul appears, yelling for Commander Sisko, and being chased by two Jem'Hadar soldiers. Sisko and Garak get up and just when T'Rul reaches them, the Jem'Hadar manage to shoot her in the back with a hand weapon. She falls into Sisko's arms, dead, just as the soldiers arrive. Sisko immediately gives her over to Garak and begins to fight. The Jem'Hadar over-power Sysko while Garak looks on helplessly. Security office Garak enters, followed by Dax and Bashir, Dax demands to see Commander Sisko. Eddington is seated behind a desk/console and states that no one is allowed to see the commander and authorization must come from Admiral Nechayev. Through a ruse, Garak manages to knock out Eddington with a stun device. They free Sisko and get phasers from the office's armory. Dax informs Sisko that O'Brian is waiting for them on landing pad 'C', with the ''Rio Grande'' and a full complement of photon torpedoes. Sysko asks Dax how she knew that they'd need the torpedoes and she answers that she anticipated that Sisko would want to shutdown the wormhole. He agrees and they begin their run to landing pad 'C'. Changeling planet: The brass door Odo is examining the door that Kira found and makes a startling discovery. That the door is not meant to keep people out, rather it is to keep whatever is inside, in. The locking mechanism is a strange shape that only a changeling can use without resorting to special tools and Odo morphs his hand to the required shape. DS9: Corridors Dax, Garak, Bashir, and Sisko are running towards the Embarcadero when they encounter a Jem'Hadar patrol. During the ensuing battle, Garak is shot and killed. The rest of the group move on and there is another battle at the airlocks to landing pad 'C'. They all enter the ''Rio Grande'' safely, where O'Brian is waiting for them and they launch without further incident. USS Rio Grande: Command deck As soon as they launch, they head directly for the wormhole. Thirty seconds from arrival, Admiral Nechayev with Borath at her side, contact them on a view screen. She orders Sisko to stand down and Sisko refuses the direct order. Borath then threatens them with the Jem'Hadar and Sisko states that they had better not expect any reinforcements for about seventy years. Sisko then turns to the front window of the Rio Grande and sees that the wormhole opens for them. Sisko then orders attack pattern theta and O'Brian turns hard to port and launches three photon torpedoes into the wormhole. The wormhole implodes and the blinding light of that event illuminates the interior of the Rio Grande brightly. Changeling planet: Underground complex Odo is working the lock mechanism and it finally opens for him. As the door opens it reveals two armed and ready Jem'Hadar guards who immediately take them into custody and march them deeper into the underground complex. They enter and underground chamber filled with various types of equipment and five inclined bed/tables. The three tables on the left hold Bashir, Dax, and T'Rul. The two tables in the back hold Sisko and O'Brian. There are two Vorta technicians, supporting a Vorta leader (Borath). A third Jem'Hadar stands guard in the chamber. Borath invites them in and Kira runs up to Sisko and tries to talk to him. Borath in forms her that they are unconscious because he is running and experiment on them. Kira is immediately suspicious and concerned, demanding to know what sort of experiment the Vorta have been running. Borath answers that it's a simulation excersize designed to determine how they would respond to an attempt by the Dominion to gain a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. To measure how much they would be willing to sacrifice in order to avoid a war. However, the results are they they are extremely stubborn and Borath is thankful that he doesn't have to solve that problem. The phrase "But I do" startles them all to look at the chamber entrance where the Female Changeling is entering the chamber. Odo is still surprised that she knew about it. Kira figures it out quicker and challenges the changeling, that she belongs to the Dominion. The changeling responds that she doesn't belong to the Dominion rather, that the changelings are the Dominion. Odo is thunderstruck as he steps forward and says "You're the Founders". She admits to the irony that the hunted now control the destinies of hundreds of other races. Odo now challenges her as to why the Founders should need to control anyone. Her response is that What you control can't hurt you and that many years ago they set themselves the task of imposing order on a chaotic universe. Kira objects, that the Founder order should actually be called 'murder'. The Founder states that what the solids call it is irrelevent to the Founders. Odo then challenges how they can justify the deaths of so many people. The founder then answers that the solids have always been a threat to them and that's the only justification they need. Odo rebutts that these solids have never harmed the founders, implying, that none of the Alpha Quadrant solids have ever harmed the founders. That the Federation is just like what the founders used to be, explorers and researchers. The founder counters that the solids are nothing like us. At this point, Odo pauses to consider and then answers that neither is he. That his whole life has been devoted to the pursuit of justice and then states the personal revelation that justice means nothing to the founders. The founder doesn't challenge that rather, she challenges that Odo would rather have order than justice and that the Great Link will satisfy his need for order. Odo declines, acknowledging the temptation of the offer, maintaining that he already has a link to his comrades. Odo then turns to Borath and orders him to wake up the others and that they are leaving. Borath objects and Odo, turning to the founder, states that he is leaving with his friends. The founder objects and when Odo confirms his intent, the founder looks shocked as he does so. The founder states that no changeling has ever hurt another. To which Odo replies that whatever she does to his friends, she will also have to do to him. The founder concedes the point and confirms Odo's orders to the Vorta. But she warns him that the next time they will not be so generous. The Vorta technicians move among the unconscious Defiant crew, removing leads, patch cords, and devices. As they do so, the crew wakes up slightly dazed and asking what happened. They all have various confused memories of the Rio Grande and collapsing the wormhole, except T'Rul, who remembers being shot by Jem'Hadar soldiers. Kira explains that none of what they remember is real and that they've been held in the chamber since the Jem'Hadar captured them on the Defiant. That they've been in a simulation. Sisko demands an explaination from Borath and Borath informs him that his ship is in orbit and that they can transfer up to it when they are ready. Odo informs Sisko that he'll be along a bit later. Kira indicates that she'll come up with Odo. Odo promises to explain later but that they must leave immediately. Sisko beams the crew up to the Defiant. The Arboretum As they walk to the Great Link, the founder expresses her wish that Odo will someday return to them. When Odo expresses his doubt of that, she points out that he'll always be an outsider with the solids. Odo states that being an outsider isn't so bad, it gives one a unique perspective and that it's a pity that the founders have forgotten that. The founder then says that she might visit him, that the Alpha Quadrant seems wracked with chaos, and that it could use some order. At this point Odo warns her that imposing her form of order, on the Alpha Quadrant, may prove more difficult than she can imagine. The founder walks out onto the Great Link sea and turns back to Odo, "We will miss you Odo but you will miss us even more." With that, she merges back into the Great Link sea. When she is gone, Kira approaches Odo, they hold hands and Kira calls to be beamed up. Salient points *Although most fans do not consider this one of DS9's finer episodes, one could call it a necessary evil in that it laid out the groundwork for Odo's relationship with his people and the Dominion's approach toward the Alpha Quadrant. * This is where we find out that the Changelings are the Founders of the Dominion, albeit not until the very end of the episode. * This is where we first learn that Odo was deliberately sent out, as an infant, to explore the galaxy, by his own people. It is also stated that all such explorers are genetically pre-wired to return home and that Odo is the first to have done so. * The dialog in the underground complex is critical in understanding the motives of the Founder's invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. It establishes cannonical evidence that contradicts many external references. * The Female Changeling decides here that war is the only option for the Alpha Quadrant, and from this point forward something of a cold war existed until the episodes "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light". Thus, this is arguably the true start of the Dominion War. Quotes :What you control can't hurt you -- Female Changeling :The solids have always been a threat to us, that's the only justification we need. -- Female Changeling :No changeling has ever harmed another. -- Female Changeling Background Information * The bulk of the episode continually splits between reality (Kira and Odo on the Founders' homeworld) and the psychological projections created in the experiment being conducted on Sisko and the others. This is masked by the normal formula of having "A" and "B" stories; only in the last minutes of the episode (although it is fairly obvious by then) is the psychological experiment revealed. * The abrupt realization that the Bajoran wormhole has not been destroyed and none of the events Sisko and the others experienced truly happened is a faily solid example of a deus ex machina-style ending. However, rather than an avenue by which to create a quick resolution, it is likely that the writers began with this "surprise ending" already in mind. Links and References Guest Stars * Salome Jens as the Female Changeling * Andrew Robinson as Garak * Natalia Nogulich as Alynna Nechayev * Martha Hackett as T'Rul * Kenneth Marshall as Michael Eddington * William Frankfather as Male Changeling * Dennis Christopher as Borath Co-Stars * Christopher Doyle as Jem'Hadar Officer * Tom Morga as Jem'Hadar Soldier * Diaunté as Jem'Hadar Guard * Majel Barrett as Shuttlepod Computer Voice References Alpha Quadrant; Bajoran wormhole; Bolians; Changeling; ''Defiant'', USS; Dominion; Dominion history; Eris; Founders; Founders' homeworld; Gamma Quadrant; Great Link; Jem'Hadar; ''Lexington'', USS; Omarion Nebula; potatoes; ''Rio Grande'', USS; tractor beam; Type-18 shuttlepod; Vorta. Search, The, Part II de:Die Suche, Teil II nl:The Search, Deel II